My Heavenly Father

An Iranian woman lived with her husband and two children in America in
the midst of the American hostage crisis in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran,
Iran. She was insulted by her American neighbors yet she couldn't go back
to Iran. And, the U.S. Immigration was after her. Here is the true story
of an Iranian Christian ...

Childhood

I was born in Iran into a very religious Muslim family. My family
was very close knit and all of us loved and cared for each other.
I never knew what it was to be in need. My parents were wonderful
providers.

I learned about the Christian faith from school and my parents.
They taught me that Jesus was the fourth major prophet, Muhammad
being the fifth and the last. I remember clearly asking my mother
why Jesus was crucified. She answered, "Jesus claimed to be God's
Son. Yet God is one and He didn't marry or have a son." I understood
that Christians believed in three gods: God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. This was very confusing. I believed that
Islam was better than other religions, because we had only one
powerful God.

Transition Years

When I graduated from high-school my parents faced a decision.
Should I continue my education in the U.S. or should they arrange
a marriage for me? They decided that I should marry first and then
go to the U.S.A. with my husband to continue my studies. Therefore,
my family arranged my marriage.

In 1973 my husband came to America and soon I followed him.
I left the country with financial support from both my parents
and the Iranian government. My husband and I came to this country
on student visas and planned to stay for four or five years, complete
our education and return home.

The separation from my parents and the adjustment to a new country
was very difficult. I lived on the hope that the moment I finished
my studies here I would return to Iran. In those days the political
relationship between Iran and the U.S. was great. There was no sign
of any problem or conflict. The Shah's government in Iran seemed
very secure.

Crisis

It was not long, however, that we began to here of internal problems
in Iran. The Shah began to lose popularity with the masses. The Ayatollah
Khomeini wanted to return home from exile but only after the Shah had
left Iran. This was exactly what happened in early 1979. And, with his
approval, Iranians attacked the American Embassy and took Americans
hostage. With the takeover of the U.S. Embassy, Iranians in the U.S.
began to face difficulties.

Soon my husband and I lost the financial support of our country as
the U.S. froze all of the Iranian assets. Also at this time I received
word that my father had passed away.

Now we were on our own. We had to support ourselves. With our
student visas, we were not allowed to work. However, we had to work
to survive. I stopped going to school to cut down on expenses and
took a full time job. I thought about going back home, but the war
between Iran and Iraq began and that was not wise. The attitude
toward Iranians in the U.S. became so negative that we lived each
day with fear. The immigration office was searching for Iranians
who were in the US illegally. I would have been deported had they
found out that I was working illegally. With two small children my
income was not enough to support us, so my husband also started
working. Needless to say, our lives were filled with stress, anxiety,
and fear.

Throughout these difficult times, I continued to pray five times
a day toward Mecca and I often fasted. Now that I needed him, my
"god" seemed very far away. I sent both of my children to church
preschool because I felt they would receive less harassment. During
the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons, I was invited to participate
in and help with the festivities. But I never went. I always thought
that these festivities were wrong. Instead, I invited them to my
house with the intention of teaching them about my God. But, deep
down inside I felt that my God was just too far away to hear me.

My life consisted of no more than work and the care of my children.
I kept asking my God, What did I do to deserve this? Life became
so hard that I began living on tranquilizers. My doctors told me
that I was depressed and I needed to return to Iran. I wanted to
but I couldn't.

The church were my children went to preschool, offered an aerobics
class. Exercise was one of my doctor's prescriptions to deal with the
anxiety attacks. The aerobics class started with devotions and ended
with prayer requests and prayer.

Although I participated in the class, I avoided the prayer times
because they conflicted with my own beliefs. In spite of this, the
ladies in the class were very kind to me, and I realized that their
concern was genuine. In the meantime, my husband and I saw many
attorneys seeking work permits so we could work legally. Work
permits would mean less anxiety and fear. All seemed hopeless until
we found an attorney through a T.V. commercial. He represented a
glimpse of hope for us. The attorney told us that the U.S. Department
of Labor would grant him a permit if a company maintained that my
husband's mechanical skills were essential for that company. Finally,
my husband received an offer from a Cuban owned company. We immediately
took all of the documents to our attorney who promised to send them
to the Department of Labor.

During this time we did not hear from our families because of the
political situation in Iran. When we did occasionally make contact
by phone, my mothers words were always the same, It is not safe
here. Stay in the States.

I was going through much disappointment, bad treatment and
harassment from our neighbors. I was frustrated and angry. I did
not come to this country to be told, Go home, you bad Iranian.
I didn't come here to work the way I did - taking care of an
Alzheimer's patient. And, most of all, I did not understand why
my God did not answer me.

I held on to the hope that we would hear from the Department of
Labor and my husband would be able to work legally. All our problems
would be solved and I would no longer be dominated by fear and anxiety.
One night our attorney called. He had heard from the Department of
Labor. The request had been denied. We were devastated! All our hopes
vanished. We faced a stone wall!

I told my husband that it might be for the better if we returned
to Iran. I was tired of working illegally and the harassment. But at
the same time I was concerned for the welfare of our children. Did
we want to take them to a country that was being bombed every day?
That night I reviewed my life. I thought about every thing that had
happened to me since coming to America. I had tried everything to
solve our problems. I had worked as a baby-sitter, a house-sitter,
a housekeeper, a hostess in a restaurant, a helper in a laundry room,
a nurse's aid, and a companion. I said to myself, My plans have
hit rock bottom. This is not why I came to America. I fasted
many times. I prayed and cried to my God but he never answered.
I was tired of being a foreigner. I cried, If my father was alive
I would go back home. I wouldn't put up with this life anymore!
As I went to bed that night, one bright thought entered my mind,
I was going to aerobics class the next morning.

The next morning, I arrived at the aerobics class early.
I listened attentively to the devotions. I had never done this
before. Throughout the entire class I kept thinking about my
family's future. I stayed for the prayer time after class. When
one of the ladies asked if there were any prayer request,
I responded by pouring out all my problems. They listened. And
then they prayed for me. They took me and all of my problems
before their God. They called Him Jesus. and they called Him
Father. One of women read from the Gospel of Matthew 18:20,
For where two or three come together in my name, there am I
with them. They claimed this promise and ended the prayer
with, We ask this in Jesus name. They also told me that
they would continue to pray for me. The name of Jesus stayed with
me as I left the class. On the way home as I talked to Jesus,
I started to cry. I said to him, If you really are God, then
all of this time I was wrong. I was talking to the wrong God.
That evening at the dinner table I asked Him again, Jesus, if
you are the true God let me know what I should do about my life's
problems.

The Dream

That night I dreamed that I had prepared myself and my children
to go to Jerusalem to see Jesus. I was going to visit Him to tell
Him about my many problems. We started to walk on the road. It was
very rough and seemed endless. Finally, very exhausted we arrived
in Jerusalem. We stood in front of an old brick wall. But there
was no door. I started to cry and said, Jesus, I came all this
way to see you. Is this your home? There is no door. Is there no
way of reaching you, either? I remembered the promise the ladies
gave me when they prayed for me. Is this the end? Then I heard
a voice, No, that's not it. At that moment, we began to
ascend the door less brick wall higher and higher until we stopped
in front of the Heavenly Gate. The gate opened and my children and
I walked inside. It was beautiful! Immediately I noticed a person
welcoming me with open arms. He held a candle in each hand and wore
a white robe and sandals. I couldn't see His eyes because in their
place was an intense radiance which gave light to the entire place.
I knew immediately that I was face to face with Jesus!

I began to talk to Him, telling Him all my problems and difficulties.
I told Him everything from my childhood up to that day. As I turned
each problem over to Jesus, I began to feel lighter and lighter.
The depression and anxiety gradually disappeared. I talked so fast
that I was out of breath. When I was too tired to utter any more
words, Jesus read the questions in my mind and continued to respond
to me.

As I looked around, I saw many rooms, each opening onto a garden
where people stood in white shiny robes. Jesus pointed out, These
are the prophets from the past. Then I realized that I had never
worshiped Jesus. I had always worshiped Allah, but he never responded.
A group of angels appeared encircling Jesus with a crown and sang,
This is the Lord. Praise his name. I joined their song,
Praise the Lord. Praise his name.

Jesus gave me all the time I needed and answered all of my
questions. Afterwards, nothing bothering me any more. I felt as light
as a feather. Jesus gave me these promises: Things will be okay!
Things will be taken care of; "I" will take care of everything!
These promises were enough for me! I had found the true God! With
that I woke up.

Freedom

The following day I felt magnificently. My feelings of depression
and frustration were gone. That evening we received a phone call from
our lawyer. This time he said, The Department of Labor has approved
your husband's labor certificate. It will take some time to receive
your permanent residence but here is your permanent residence card
number. That's all you need at this time.

I asked Jesus for a "drink of water, and He gave me a full cup!"
He has proven Himself to be my provider and my sufficiency. He has
given me His strength so that I don't bend under the weight of worries
and cares. He has given me joy in the midst of tears. He has promised
me that He will never leave me not forsake me! I don't have just a
God - I HAVE A HEAVENLY FATHER!